Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Before
the 1971-72 season Alcindor
converted from Catholicism to Islam and took the name Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar. He played 20 seasons in the
league with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. By the time
the 7 foot 2 basketball player
retired in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time Most Valuable Player
and is now one of the 50
Greatest Players in NBA History. He began to study the Quran, for
which he undertook to learn basic
Arabic. In 1973 he travelled to Libya and Saudi Arabia to get a
better grasp of the language and to
learn about Islam He professes a strong belief in what he calls the
Supreme Being and is clear in his
understanding that Muhammad is his prophet and the Quran is the
final revelation. Objecting to
having been pushed into the Catholic faith by his father, he insists
that his children will be free
to make their own choices.....For his part, Kareem accepts his
responsibility to live as good an
Islamic life as
possible, recognising that Islam is able to meet the requirements
of being a professional athlete
in America. (source: Islam in America, Jane Smith)

Jemima Khan � Formerly Jemimah Goldsmith, Jewish daughter of
billionaire Sir James. At the age of
21 she married famous Pakistani cricket player Imran Khan and
converted to Islam. Changed name to
Haiqa Khan.
"It would seem that a Western woman's happiness hinges largely upon
her access to nightclubs,
alcohol and revealing clothes; and the absence of such apparent
freedom and luxuries in Islamic
societies is seen as an infringement of her basic rights. However,
as we all know, such superficialities
have very little to do with true happiness...."

Art Blakey - American drummer and jazz musician. His contribution to
jazz from 1954 to 1990 as
leader of the Jazz Messengers established the sound Hard Bop,
greatly influencing later generations
of musicians and entertainers. Now known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina

Cat Stevens, world famous British pop singer.
He converted to Islam in 1973 and changed his name to Yusuf
Islam. "I tried Zen and Ching,
numerology, tarot cards and astrology. I tried to look back into the
Bible and could not find anything.
When I received the Quran , a guidance that would explain everything
to me - who I was; what was
the purpose of life; what was the reality and what would be the
reality; and where I came from - I
realized that this was the true religion; religion not in the sense
the West understands it, not
the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever wishes to
embrace a religion and make it his
only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a fanatic; I was at
first confused between the body
and the soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not apart
and you don't have to go to the
mountain to be religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we
can rise higher than the angels.
The first thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim."
www.catstevens.com

Danny Williams- Currently the Commonwealth and British Heavyweight
Boxing Champion.

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